Library

Price: $11.95

Edition: Reissue

ISBN: 0385090021

Summary: It is known that when the great Catholic writer G.K. Chesterton began his book on Saint Thomas Aquinas (who is, quite possibly, the most influential of all Christian theologians), "his research for the project consisted of a very casual perusal of a few books on his subject." To say that Chesterton was no authority is an understatement. To say further that he has written a masterpiece of elucidation may also be an understatement. Etienne Gilson, the chief scholar of Aquinas in the 20th century, said flatly "I consider it as being without possible comparison the best book ever written on St. Thomas. Nothing short of genius can account for such an achievement.... Chesterton was one of the deepest thinkers who ever existed; he was deep because he was right; and he could not help being right; but he could not either help being modest and charitable, so he left it to those who could understand him to know that he was right, and deep."
So how has he accomplished this feat? By simplifying, as his editor says, without oversimplifying. He turns his own lack of intimate knowledge to his advantage by concentrating on the core elements of Aquinas' thinking: his affirmation of the goodness of creation; his defense of common sense; and "the primacy of the doctrine of being." In this way he grasps--and helps us grasp--the importance of Aquinas for us today. As Raymond Dennehy has written, it's as if Chesterton is saying to us "the truths [Aquinas] was getting at--the basic principles of reality and reason--are in themselves really quite simple. Your basic intuitions were right all along." "--Doug Thorpe"

Price: $6.95

ISBN: 0486437019

Summary: If G.K. Chesterton's "Orthodoxy: The Romance of Faith" is, as he called it, a "slovenly autobiography," then we need more slobs in the world. This quirky, slender book describes how Chesterton came to view orthodox Catholic Christianity as the way to satisfy his personal emotional needs, in a way that would also allow him to live happily in society. Chesterton argues that people in western society need a life of "practical romance, the combination of something that is strange with something that is secure. We need so to view the world as to combine an idea of wonder and an idea of welcome." Drawing on such figures as Fra Angelico, George Bernard Shaw, and St. Paul to make his points, Chesterton argues that submission to ecclesiastical authority is the way to achieve a good and balanced life. The whole book is written in a style that is as majestic and down-to-earth as C.S. Lewis at his best. The final chapter, called "Authority and the Adventurer," is especially persuasive. It's hard to imagine a reader who will not close the book believing, at least for the moment, that the Church will make you free. "--Michael Joseph Gross"

Price: $9.95

Edition: Reprint

ISBN: 0486263436

Summary: The best manual ever produced on rigging a sailing ship, based on extensively revised and updated 1848 edition prepared by Biddlecombe, Master in the Royal Navy. Complete definition of terms, on-shore operations, process of rigging ships, reeving the running rigging and bending sails, rigging brigs, yachts and small vessels, more. First inexpensive paperback edition. 17 plates of rigging. Introduction.

Price: $14.00

Edition: 1st ed

ISBN: 0872592545

Summary:

Price: $39.95

ISBN: 0937822507

Summary: This is, quite simply, the most useable and useful book for small boat building which is out there. A legendary teacher at the WoodenBoat School, Greg Rossel uses his years of experience to take the reader through the whole process of constructing a wooden boat. The chapter on lofting alone is worth the price of the whole book. One might consider Chapelle's "Boatbuilding" to be Old Testament: accurate, certainly, but with many references which today the reader would find archaic. Rossel, however, is decidedly New Testament. He is a cheerful, witty, and knowlegeable companion who takes you from selecting a set of plans to finishing the brightwork. Highly recommended.

Gordon H.Hafner